Scaredy cat
by Brightness Davar
Summary: Four months after the thaw and Elsa has a question: what do kittens and Anna have in common? They both love to get into mischief. One-shot.


"Hey! Elsa! Hey there. Hi, how are y – It's not what it looks like, I swear!"

"Oh? So you're not sitting amongst _another_ ruined suit of armour, covered with grass and dirt stains, soaking wet – again – clutching a kitten to your chest? Having probably chased said kitten all over the garden?"

"Okay fine, so it is exactly what it looks like but I've got a reeeally good reason for it."

"Do tell." Elsa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "I'm all ears."

Anna hesitated, stroking the wriggling kitten to try and sooth its frightened mewling. "Welllllllll…you see I –" her head suddenly spun to address the man behind her. "Kristoff! Why don't you tell my _patient_ and _extremely loving_ sister exactly why we–?"

"Oh no, you're not pulling me into this one, Feisty Pants."

"And just why does it look like you tried to help her, Master Bjorgman?" Elsa turned her eyebrow at him and saw him squirm immediately. He brushed at his stained clothes in vain.

"She – I – we – I didn't have a choice! She gave me The Look!" he deflated where he stood, "I can't deny her anything when she gives me that Look…"

She knew exactly what Look Kristoff was referring to. Four months after the Thaw had shown her that Anna could still use it against her, and Kristoff too it would seem.

Elsa sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Just tell me what happened."

"Well," Anna began cautiously, sensing that she wasn't out of the woods just yet. "I've been seeing this little guy around town for a while now…" she looked at the kitten twisting in her hands, "and he looked so sad Elsa, I just couldn't leave him alone to fend for himself anymore."

"You do realise he might have a family?" she crossed her arms again, firm in her resolve. "Being as young as it is, he was probably being taken care of by his mother."

"That's just it!" Anna struggled not to slip amongst the pieces or armour as she tried to stand up with the kitten clutched in both her hands, "Ouch! He was all alone." She pried the cat off of her sleeve, "I tried looking for his family every time I went to town. He smells like fish. I think he might've come on one of the ships. He's definitely not from here, I've seen our cats, this one's white –"

"He's barely white." Elsa refuted gesturing to him in her hand, "He looks like a wilderness cat, Anna. And he's clearly been able to survive on his one this long –"

"Come on, Els! He's just a kit-ten, look at him!" she thrust the tiny thing towards her sister, "He wouldn't've survived on his own for any longer and winter's almost here."

Up close, Elsa could see that the kitten could be considered white underneath all the filth clinging to it. Anna was right, he did smell like fish. Maybe he had been feeding on them? If it had been caught by anyone other than Anna they probably would've gotten rid of it. Glacial blue eyes pierced right into her soul when she locked eyes with the kitten. It looked so helpless and scared…maybe she was being a tad bit too harsh…

"Can I _please_ keep him?" Anna asked as soon as she saw her sister's stern face soften into compassion. Elsa looked up from the cat's soft mewling, straight into her sister's pleading face and groaned out loud.

She was giving her The Look.

Anna was gazing at her sister through long eyelashes, biting her lip just so, with lifted eyebrows to complete her Look. She had perfected it when she was little, having gotten out of the biggest messes and most trouble she had gotten herself into back then. She had also gotten her big sister to partake in any scheme she concocted using that face. Like Kristoff, Elsa just couldn't say no to her.

"Fine." At Elsa's compliance Anna's face lit up like the sun on a perfect day, "But you have to clean up after it, and feed it, and keep it out of trouble, and keep it warm during the coming winter, alright?"

"Deal!" she squealed, already running towards the baths to clean it up, "Thank you!"

Elsa and Kristoff watched her bound down the hall with as much enthusiasm only Anna could manage. As soon as she turned a corner, Kristoff cleared his throat beside Elsa.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Don't. Say. A word."

"What? I won't say a word…" He crossed his arms and smirked, still looking down the hall their redhead had disappeared to.

"Good."

"Yup," he popped the 'p'. "not gonna mention the fact that even you can't refuse her Look. Or that Anna has you wrapped around her little finger. Nope, not a word at all."

Elsa looked at him pointedly.

"That wasn't _a_ word," he informed with a smug shrug of his shoulders, "those were _many_ words."

"Right." She deadpanned, twirling her fingers. "And you're not about to be buried underneath a pile of snow as we speak?"

"Right." He nodded in agreement before he looked at her sharply, "Wait, wha – mmpfh!"

The snow that had been accumulating above him fell on him with a muted thump, leaving him covered in powder with his shoulders scrunched up to his ears.

* * *

"Alright little guy, let's get you cleaned up."

Anna entered the baths and closed the door behind her. She shifted the kitten in her grasp to free a hand up. It was so small! It was easily as long as both of her hands held together. And it's so dirty… It will definitely need a proper cleaning. It was shaking in her hands and using its claws to try and get away from her.

"Ouch!" Anna grimaced, "Easy, easy. I'm not gonna hurt you." She held it close to her and stroked it with a finger in long soothing strides. "There, there, everything will be alright, you'll see. I just need to clean you up a bit. You stink – no offence."

She walked toward the basin in the corner of the room that was dominated by a porcelain bath. Silently thanking whoever invented the plumbing system, Anna smiled for it would be easier to wash the kitten with running water than by using water from a jug.

"How am I even gonna wash you? Aren't cats like, allergic to water or something?" the little thing clung to her bodice and shivered, periodically mewling in fright. "You're probably gonna hate me, but I need to use water to clean you…It'll be over soon, I promise."

She turned the faucets and plugged the hole, filling the basin with an inch of water. Testing the temperature with a finger, she found it satisfactory. Making sure the soap and towels were close at hand, she pried the kitten's claws off her bodice again. It meowed in obvious distain. Its high pitched cry made her heart constrict in sympathy.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. She repeated the phrase as she lowered it into the water. When it touched the surface, it lifted his paws and sunk them into her hands, "Ouch!" she hissed, "I know, I know, sorrysorrysorry…"

Having pinned the tiny feet with one hand, she lowered it into the water again. It meowed louder and more incessantly than before. Anna grit her teeth when it manged to wriggle out of her grasp, cutting her hands with fine claws, but she persisted. After about thirty minutes of struggling and washing with one hand while the other held the flailing cat down, the water was murky, the cat was indeed white with caramel ears and face, and Anna's hands were covered in fine claw marks.

She grabbed two towels from the rack beside her. "Almost done…just hold on for a few seconds more…"

She dropped one towel on the ground by her feet and kneeled to place the kitten on it. Before it could bolt, Anna plopped the other towel over it. The kitten's protests came out in broken vibrations as Anna rubbed it dry as quickly as she could without hurting it.

"Alight…" she threw the damp towel over the basin's rim and stood up from the floor with the clean but still slightly wet kitten in hand. "I think that's enough." It mewled, clinging to her bodice again, "Yeah, I know that sucked, I'm sorry sweetheart. I'm gonna get dressed and then we can get some food, 'kay?"

While Anna walked towards her room she wondered what she could call the little kitten. Halfway through the washing she discovered that what she had thought to be a _he_ was actually a _she_.

"What should I call you, hmm?" Anna stroked the shaking kitten, holding it close to her chest. "What about…Snowflake? You're definitely white enough. Or maybe, Peppermint?"

The kitten remained quiet, having realised that it was being helped but still determining if it was safe or not. Anna entered her room and nudged the door with her foot to close it. However, she failed to see that it had not close all the way. Walking to her bed, she grabbed the green throw draped over the foot of her bed and scrunched it together, creating a cave-like dwelling. She placed the kitten inside and covered the entrance a little bit. Standing straight, Anna waited to see what the kitten would do. The material bobbed as she moved underneath it before settling.

Anna lifted the end of the fabric up to peek inside. Deep glacial blue eyes stared back at her. It didn't seem as frightened as it had been before, preferring the safety created by the 'cave' that had been constructed.

The redhead smiled, "There, that wasn't so bad was it?"

The kitten made a soft sound in her throat.

"Okay, it was a little," she turned around to get a warmer dress, "but you got your revenge just fine. I swear there isn't an inch left on my hands that you haven't scratched."

While Anna got dressed behind her screen she continued thinking of names she could give the little thing. Maybe she could name it after her features?

"Whiskers?" Anna thought out loud, shrugging into a clean olive dress, "No…that's used way too much… How 'bout…Claws? Nah, but she really did a number on me… Let's see. She's got white fur, is quite the scaredy cat, and has the bluest eyes I've ever seen…Huh, they kinda remind me of Elsa's eyes –" Anna stopped what she was doing, a mischievous grin splitting her face. "What if I called you Elsa? Hey kitten," she stepped out from behind her changing screen fully clothed and looked at her bed, "Do you like –?"

The cave Anna had built was open, flat, and kitten-less.

"Oh no." she looked around her room frantically, calling the kitten by her sister's name. She bent down to look under the bed and saw that the door stood ajar. "Oh no." she straightened slowly, "ohno,nono _no_!"

* * *

Elsa strolled down the hall from her study on her way to the library. She figured she could use a little break in the quiet amongst books. She wouldn't dare pick one up for fear she might read until dinner was ready at the end of the day. Having just had lunch before Anna and Kristoff had burst in with the kitten, she asked a passing servant to bring her a cup of tea to the library.

When she entered the room, she walked towards the window nook overlooking the courtyard and harbour beyond. She made herself comfortable and opened the window just enough so that a crisp wind blew in to caress her face. She could feel Winter's bite in the chill, and couldn't help but relax. This will be the first Winter she could experience with her sister since the isolation. And even though Winter had made a premature entrance earlier that Summer, she still looked forward to the natural snow the blizzards would bring to her kingdom.

At least they will have enough provisions to last through the Winter. She had been worried her magic might've damaged her kingdom's crops… Luckily, it had just preserved them. Everything had returned to relative normality after she had thawed her unintentional curse.

Tired, Elsa dropped her regal persona and slumped back against the wall. She straightened momentarily when the servant brought her tea, but relaxed as soon as she was alone again. Closing her eyes, she held onto her tea cup. This is the life. Tea is life.

"El-sa…"

Cerulean eyes opened when she heard her name being called in a strange tone followed by repetitive 'ch' sounds in rapid succession.

"Anna?"

"El-saaa…ch,ch,ch _,ch_!"

"What in the world…?" the blonde stood up, placed her cup on the seat and walked to the door when the sound was repeated again. "Anna, what –?"

Elsa paused at the threshold and saw her sister looking behind the curtains while she still called her name. What is she doing? Why would she be looking for her behind the curtain? Anna should know that her sister was either in her study or the library…

"Anna?" the redhead stiffened behind the curtain, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, hey Els." She emerged and the grin she wore betrayed her nerves. "I was…I was just – uh, admiring the drapes?" Anna made a show of taking the folds in her hands, "Wow, they really are soft and _so_ heavy…kinda like the trolls. Anyway, what's it made of? And why are they so long? How do you wash this much material anyway? I think I'd break my back trying to –"

"Anna, what did you do _now_?" Elsa sighed long-sufferingly, placing her hands on her hips. She recognised her nervous babble as indicative that Anna was hiding something.

"I didn't do anything." Her little sister refused to look at her. Yup, definitely hiding something. "I'm – I was looking for the ki – for you," Elsa rose her eyebrow at her slip. Anna was looking for what? "And felt the curtain while I was passing by. That's all. It's not like I lost something and was looking for it…heh."

"A-huh," Elsa raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "If that's so, then why _were_ you looking behind the curtain?"

"I-I wanted to feel if it was as soft at the back as the front of it is…?" she bit her lip and held her elbow in her hand gazing that the material in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner.

"And why were you calling my name while you were clearly _not_ looking for something?"

Anna squirmed underneath her sister's unwavering gaze. Her mouth worked, groping for an excuse that was not forthcoming.

She looked up from the folds at her sister and said, "I wanted you to come and feel how soft it – _fine_!" Anna deflated, unable to stand the pressure Elsa's icy eyes created. It was as if her gaze alone could add a mound of snow on her conscience. "I was looking for Elsa."

That was not the answer Elsa expected at all. She stood before her sister with a profusely confused expression on her face that would've been comical if Anna weren't so nervous.

"You were looking for…Elsa _?_ " she brought a hand to her breastbone. " _Me_?"

"No…" she let the syllable drop with her shoulders.

"No?"

Anna looked up and grimaced, "I might or might not have called the kitten I found Elsa – she reminds me so much of you! What with her white coat and blue eyes and being such a scaredy c– I mean softy, I just couldn't _but_ call her anything else."

Elsa chose to ignore the 'scaredy cat' reference, because it was true and she knew Anna meant no offence, and she needed to focus on more important things. Like missing kittens.

"You mean you lost the cat already?" at her sister's 'busted' smile, Elsa sighed deeply. "Okay. Okay, it's fine. We need to fine her. Where did you see her last?"

Anna breathed a sigh of relief and smiled gratefully, "My room. I made a cave for her with my throw and changed into another dress. When I came out she was gone."

"Why'd you leave the door open?" Elsa asked walking towards her sister's room.

"I thought I closed it with my foot," Anna jogged to keep up with her sister's determined strides, "Why are we going back to my room?"

"Because I just came from my study to the library and didn't see a cat along the way."

"Oh, okay great, that narrows the search –"

"To the whole castle of four floors, minus three corridors and a flight of stairs." Elsa interrupted with sarcasm apparent in her tone.

"It's still narrowed." Anna quipped with an optimistic grin.

* * *

After thirty minutes of searching they could successfully cross the top residential floor out of their list of places to search. That left three large floors full of kitten-sized hiding places to search for. That's to say if the cat was even still inside the castle. But they would find her eventually! Anna's optimism reassured her sister of this fact at regular intervals. When servants passed by the royals, they were informed of the missing white kitten with a caramel face and ears. They were asked to help search for her; more eyes meant less places to look.

To hear Anna call her sisters name while Elsa stayed either next to or a head of her was quite the… _weird_ experience.

"Why did you name the cat after me?" the eldest asked as they made their way down the stairs to the third admin floor. "Couldn't you name her…you said she is white, right? What about Snow or…something else? Like Chaton?"

"You want me to name her 'kitten' in French?"

"Or Chat,"

Elsa was rewarded with an eye roll. "Calling her 'cat' in French is just as bad. Besides, that name would suit a black boy cat more than a white girl one. And I want a unique name."

"So you called her, Elsa?"

Anna shrugged with a grin.

"Why make things complicated?" Elsa continued, "Besides naming an animal in a foreign language makes them sound exotic."

Anna shrugged again when they reached the end of the flight of stairs, "She just reminded me of you."

"Yeah, you did say something about her being a 'scaredy cat', like me I assume?"

"Welll…" the redhead lengthened the word, thinking as she did so, "I meant you're cautious…Elsa the kitten is definitely a scaredy cat."

"I'd be too if a crazy pigtailed lady chased me all over town." Elsa couldn't help the smirk that tugged her lips when her sister reacted with a playful shove.

"Touché."

"Your Majesty! Your Highness!"

The sisters turned in unison at the call and rapidly approaching footfalls coming from behind them. A servant in Arendelle green came rushing towards them from the flight of stairs with a smile on her homely face.

"We found the kitten." She breathed when she reached the royals.

"Really?!" Anna jumped on the spot, and looked at her sister. "See Elsa! Told you we'd find her."

"Where did you find her, Anette?" Elsa asked, ever the regal Queen. She did smile in relief though.

"Well, we didn't exactly find her." Anette replied, "We found Olaf with her. Outside in the garden."

"Outside?" Anna asked with concern, "With Olaf?"

"Yes, ma'am. By the pond."

"The pond?" Elsa repeated, "With the ducks?"

"We better hurry before she eats them!" Anna cried already running down the hall. "Thank you Anette!"

"Anna! Wait!"

It was no use. The last thing Elsa glimpsed were pigtails trailing around a corner like streamers trailing behind an excitable child.

* * *

"And this is Loki." Olaf pointed at the smallest duckling with a wide grin. "He's the naughtiest of the bunch, you know."

The snowman was sitting next to the pond beneath the willow. The kitten lounged on his stump legs, content with life and not at all bothered by the cold he was radiating. While Olaf chatted to the kitten, she would swat at the falling flakes lazily when they came within her reach.

" _O_ -laaaf?"

"Oh!" He swivelled his head in the direction he heard his name being called, "That's Anna, you'll like her very much."

"Olaf?"

"And that's Elsa. She's the best." He scooped the kitten up in his twigs and stood up, "I wonder why they're looking for me. Oh! Maybe Elsa wants her snow creation back. I hope she lets me play with you again, little guy." The kitten purred in his hands when he stroked her head.

"Olaf, there you are." Anna smiled with relief at seeing the kitten in his hands.

"Hey, Anna!" Held the kitten up Lion King style. "Look what I found! Another snow thing Elsa made! But I just can't figure out if it's another brother or sister…"

"Wait, what?" Elsa appeared behind her sister to stare at the kitten he was holding up. "Olaf, I didn't make that."

" _She's_ a kitten," Anna kneeled before him, "I found her in town."

"But, it's white like snow and isn't bothered by the cold…" his snowy brow furrowed in confusion and cocked his head to the side. "What's a kitten?"

"It's a baby cat."

"Soooo, Elsa _didn't_ make her?" When Elsa shook her head, he turned the kitten so that he could look her in her eyes, "You _lied_ to me?"

Anna giggled and held her hands out to take her, "We should go and feed her. I bet she's super hungry."

"Okay!"

Anna and Elsa made their way to the kitchen with Olaf bouncing next to his creator. He bombarded the sister's with millions of questions about the new animal he had met while they walked. Anna was happy to see that the kitten had settled down and was even purring in her hands. She was really looking forward to having a kitten to look after. She's always wanted an animal friend.

* * *

 _Knock knock knockknock knock._

"Hey Els, have you seen – of course she'd be with you."

Anna stood in the threshold of her sister's study, arms crossed with a pout pulling her lips. Elsa sat by her desk with the kitten curled up in an empty corner of her table. The blonde looked up and shrugged sheepishly, stroking the sleeping kitten.

"I thought she was _my_ responsibility." Anna cocked her eyebrow in challenge.

"It's not my fault she decided to like me instead."

"Riiiight." Anna gestured something behind her and stepped into the room, "And you feeding her treats didn't influence her 'decision' at all."

"Exactly." Elsa grinned up at her sister, still stroking the kitten.

A sigh escaped the youngest as she shook her head with a little laugh, "It's alright. I just wanted to know where she is 'cause I want her to meet someone."

"And who might that be?"

"Oh, Kris-toooff." she called with a singsong voice, a smirk tugging her lips.

"Kristoff? He already met –" she fell silent when Kristoff entered the study. "No. Absolutely not."

"Awww! Come _on_ , Els!" she held her arms towards the mountain man to take the squirming bundle in his arms.

"Anna. We already have a cat. We don't need a dog as well."

"But jus' wook at his widdle face!" her held the puppy's scrunched and excited face towards her sister.

"You," Elsa said, looking pointedly at Kristoff. "Are no help at all."

"At least I know Anna has me wrapped around her little finger." He smirked before a snowball hit him in his face.

The pup barked and tried to wriggle out of Anna's grasp to lick the snow off Kristoff's face. This in turn caused the kitten to jolt upright and look at the puppy warily. Ears flat and tail twitching.

"See," Elsa gestured to her name's sake, "Even Elsa doesn't like him."

"It's a _her_ –" Anna struggled when the pup lunged for Kristoff's face again. "and s-she – ngh – she followed me h-home."

"More like you fed her."

"Well, I learnt from the best, didn't I?" Anna shot her sister a smug pull of her lips.

In response, Elsa narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Anna couldn't help but think that the kitten and her sister shared much more than a name. That icy glare they were giving the puppy and Anna respectively was quite identical.

"You owe me one." Anna said when she had some control over the excitable red pup.

"For what exactly?" The Queen stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

"For stealing Elsa's affection from me."

"You two do realise," Kristoff interrupted the stare down, "that it's _the_ weirdest thing to name the cat Elsa, right?"

"Of course." They replied in unison.

The pup struggled again, panting, and trying to lick Anna's giggling face.

"Fine." Elsa said suddenly, "You can keep her."

"Really?!" Anna bounced with the puppy in her arms, "Thank you Elsa!"

"But I get to name her."

"Deal!"

Anna was so excited, she missed her sister's smirk turn positively wicked. Kristoff noticed and sighed, already having an idea what the hyperactive, uncontrollable, _red_ _haired_ puppy is going to be called.

"Henceforth," the Queen declared, not even bothering to hide her amusement, "the puppy shall be named…"

"Here we go." Kristoff muttered, face palming.

"Anna."

* * *

 **This was such fun to write :D**

 **I have a cat this is based off of, she's a Birman. Beautifully white with caramel ears and face.**

 **Anyway, I had this idea drifting around and thought Anna and Elsa would do that to each other.**

 **Thanks for reading :)**

 **'Till next time.**


End file.
